Hummingbird may get promoted
Not just a subspecies: A flashy, squeaky bird should become its own species, ornithologists argue
By Susan Milius
A flashy little hummingbird in the Bahamas could get upgraded to full species status, thanks to research that began with noise-making tail feathers.
The Inaguan lyretail, one of what are called bee hummingbirds because of their small size, was demoted to a subspecies in 1945. Its official name, Calliphlox evelynae lyrura, honored the (somewhat) lyrelike curve and length of the far left and right feathers in its tail.
In 2008, the feathers caught the interest of Christopher J. Clark of the University of California, Riverside, who has analyzed how male hummingbirds make their tails whine and whir as they flirtatiously dive-bomb females. The lyretail’s feathers give a higher-pitched sound than the feathers of the other subspecies.